Something big just happened in AI. And whether you’re building with AI, selling AI, or relying on AI-powered SaaS, you should be paying close attention.

DeepSeek just came out of nowhere, and in doing so, it revealed a massive vulnerability in the entire AI SaaS model. This isn’t an argument or endorsement of DeepSeek itself—that part doesn’t even matter. What matters is what just happened.

It’s Not About DeepSeek. It’s About What They Just Did.

• They built an AI model that, at a quick glance, performs at least as well as GPT-4o.
• They did it at 1/8th the cost of OpenAI.
• They did it at 1/8th the energy usage.

That’s not just a breakthrough. It’s a warning shot to the entire AI SaaS industry.

Over the past two years of tinkering, testing, and building AI agents and apps, one thing has become crystal clear: AI SaaS is shockingly easy to reverse engineer. We haven’t encountered a single AI-powered SaaS product that we couldn’t completely rebuild in-house within a few days. And we’re not the only ones.

Think about it—90% of AI SaaS offerings are just interfaces on top of OpenAI, Claude, Meta, DeepSeek, and other foundation models. And now, DeepSeek has done to them what AI-powered SaaS has been doing to traditional software companies: undercutting the entire foundation.

The AI SaaS Model is Already Breaking

Right now, the AI SaaS market is largely built on per-user pricing, with additional fees piled on for customization, integrations, and enterprise features. It’s a massive tax on businesses, adding up to tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars annually.

But here’s the thing—this has happened before.

Back in the early days of the internet, only massive companies had access to cutting-edge technology. Then came the SaaS boom, and platforms like Salesforce and Shopify made enterprise-level tools accessible to businesses of all sizes.

But now, SaaS itself has become the new bottleneck. It’s no longer the great equalizer—it’s just another expensive dependency.

The Future: Own Your AI Instead of Renting It

As more businesses start exploring what’s possible with private and custom AI, they’re going to reach the same realization:

• They don’t need to keep paying SaaS vendors for AI tools.
• They can build their own, often in days or weeks.
• They can own and control it instead of renting access.
• They can rapidly iterate without waiting on SaaS providers.
• They can turn their AI into a real asset instead of an ongoing expense.

For the cost of a few months of AI SaaS licensing fees, companies can develop their own AI-driven solutions that are tailored to their exact needs. No per-user pricing. No limitations. No waiting for feature updates.

DeepSeek Was Just the First Warning Shot

If a brand-new company can shake up AI’s biggest players overnight, what happens when thousands of businesses start doing the same? The days of AI SaaS being a guaranteed cash cow are coming to an end.

The companies that win in AI won’t be the ones locked into expensive, one-size-fits-all SaaS subscriptions.

The companies that win will be the ones who take control—who build, own, and evolve their own AI solutions.

DeepSeek just proved that the AI SaaS model isn’t invincible. The only question now is: who’s next?